Our family was split up this Fourth of July. Avery and Layla were at home with us, Silas was in Neskowin with Nana, and Kieron was in Eastern Washington with Grammy, Papa, and the Avery’s of Pullman.

Avery loved the bottled root beer!

We hung out at the house early in the day

Then went to the beach

Doing fireworks and bottle rockets at the beach

The watermelon monster

Layla got sleepy, so I took her home shortly after this. Avery and Jonathan stayed up doing fireworks with the neighbors.

Here’s Silas at the Oregon coast with Nana

And here’s Kieron & Andrew in downtown Pullman

Here’s what we were up to in between end-of-the-school-year activities, birthday celebrations, and camping trips. Grammy and Papa came for a visit and brought their brand new kittens, Maui & Whidbey, with them.


   

Papa was opening a bottle of wine when Avery sprang up and said, “Papa, can I open that? I’ve never used the cork screw on my pocket knife before!” Papa was happy to oblige.

Voila!

Kitten hunting (their heads are to the left of Layla).

“Can I carry that?!”

Our butterflies hatched! Time to release them!

Picnic at the beach 

Avery taking Layla for a paddle

That’s Layla throwing a fit on the way back up the hill. In case you’re wondering, I ended up carrying her.

Avery became very interested in ants toward the end of the school year, and decided he wanted to start his own colony. We told him he could, he’d just need to figure out what he needed and purchase supplies. Here is his supply list:

And here he is constructing the habitat with his brothers

It’s ready for The Queen to move in!

One weekend day Jonathan and I divided and conquered, so I took Silas & Kieron to the Sehome Arboretum for a little hike

Then we walked around the Western campus for a while

These two had a great time, and I think they really bonded on this little adventure

We’ve been working on potty training

Playing with Matchbox cars

Mother/daughter selfie

It’s warming up, so we are taking the aluminum boat out more.

On this particular day the boys were excited to find a dead fish.

Some sailing…

Yoga with my girl

Jonathan and Avery, out for a paddle together

Checking out the new Waypoint Park

Look who woke up from her nap while we were working in the yard!

Jonathan and me, out at the Silver Beach Elementary auction

Caroline and the kids came for a visit over Layla’s birthday. Here are the littles at lunch the following day.

Kieron and Silas, playing with Layla’s makeup kit.

Silas reading to Layla

Practicing riding her new bike!

She wasn’t too happy when Avery demonstrated.
  

Layla turned two on June 10th. There was so much anticipation leading up to her birth, it’s hard to believe she’s not a baby anymore, but becoming a little girl. At two she is so sweet and easy-going, but I can see she’s starting to flex her muscles and show her independence already. She adores her brothers, and loves holding everyone’s attention.

Layla loves babies and animals… especially baby animals. She enjoys listening to nursery rhymes, dancing, tumbling, and doing yoga with me. She also enjoys playing Duplo (or Legos when she can get her hands on them), running, sliding, climbing, swinging, swimming and kayaking. She prefers drawing with a pen rather than with a marker or crayon — too babyish, I guess.

After raising three boys, I am constantly surprised by how closely Layla watches and imitates me. She notices and does things her brothers never have — like wiping up the floor when she spills something, washing her hands without being asked, or looking after her dolls and stuffed animals. And on the flip side, she’s not that interested in stacking blocks or playing with cars (although she does like boats).

We celebrated Layla’s birthday with a small party with friends and family. No special theme, just lots of pink! Happy birthday, Layla Blythe! We love you!
 

 

 

Clare
  

With Kampbell & Knox

That’s Addie on the left

Me, Carolyn, Grammy, & Caroline
        

Ethan & Silas

Shortly after Layla was born, I met Laura, whose Daughter, Georgia, became a playmate. Laura also has two older boys about Kieron & Silas’ ages. We instantly hit it off. When we moved last summer, she brought me this box, to open one year later! Of course I was tempted to open it a number of times over the past year, but I made it. In fact, I forgot about it on Layla’s birthday, and remembered a few days later…

This is such a cool idea! It was so much fun wondering what was in the box!

This is what it was!

Ruffles and pearls!

Miss thang, acting like a boss!

Avery had Mountain School at the beginning of the month. This was their 5th grade outdoor ed program that lasted three days. Here he is with his buddy, Henry.

Here he is at home before he left. Poor guy still had his cast on.

Waiting with his class.

He’s ba-ack! They had a great time!

Kieron and Layla making wishes

Time to get the cast off!

One happy boy!

It was a great Mother’s Day this year. The day started with a morning paddle on the lake.

Biscuits and gravy for breakfast!

I was really hoping we’d get to take the sailboat out for Mother’s Day. The weather cooperated, and we had our maiden voyage aboard the “Yellow Buccaneer”!

Someone wanted to keep the bracelet I was given for Mother’s Day

My babies!

Layla and I spent a few days with Grammy & Papa before school got out

Kieron and his friend discovered an orphaned baby deer while playing at the edge of Eli’s yard. When I arrived to pick Kieron up, the fawn was following them around making sad little squeaky noises, and trying to suck on their pant legs. It was still sticky, and we thought it was not likely more than a day or two old. We tried to lead it back to where the boys found it, but it kept following us back to the house. Eventually we left, but poor Eli & his mom spent the rest of the evening listening to it and trying to help it. It did eventually take some goat’s milk. Eli’s mom, Christi, talked to fish & wildlife a number of times, and eventually they determined the fawn was indeed orphaned based on it’s behavior and the duration of time it hung around. We also learned from Facebook that a nearby doe had been hit by a car earlier in the day. By nightfall, fish & wildlife came to collect the fawn. According to Christi, “that deer is in very good hands!” A sweet, crunchy, teary-eyed girl with dreadlocks swooped it up in her arms. Apparently they have a very successful deer rehabilitation program, and this particular fawn was in very good shape for an orphan, so he should be just fine!

Everyone got to pet the fawn. I was worried the mother would reject it if we did find her, but that didn’t end up being an issue.

Caroline and I met up for lunch in Issaquah

Just like their moms, these two always look forward to seeing each other!

I ate lunch with each of the boys at Field Day Here is Silas with his friend, Porter, and his little brother, Campbell

And here’s Kieron, Layla, and Eli

Grammy & Papa came to visit with their new kittens, Maui & Whidbey

Our caterpillars hatched while they were here

We had another little birthday celebration for Kieron

Two birds were camping out on our roof, so Jonathan did a sneak attack with his “Bug Assalt”. It was his Christmas present from the boys. It shoots salt and kills bugs, but also scares birds!

The neighborhood kids playing tug-o-war while we visited with neighbors

Then the dads got involved

Just some horsin’ around in the morning

This was another summer project – praying mantises

There were a ton of them!

Silas had his end of the season soccer party

Waiting for the bus to come

Avery giving Layla lessons on her bike

We needed a dinghy to get to our sailboat…

At the Silver Beach Elementary auction with  Jeni, Jenn, & Amy

Silas, at his friend, Lotus’ cat themed birthday party

Work buddies Jayson, Adam, Tom & Jonathan, together again!

Jonathan chaperoned Silas’ end of they year field trip to Larrabee Park. Here he is with his friend, Jack

Ms. McDonell’s kindergarten class

The whole kindergarten class

Dressin’ up